Semiconductor package having multi pitch ball land

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor device having a printed circuit board and a semiconductor chip. The printed circuit board includes a chip region, a plurality of first ball lands adjacent to the chip region, and at least one second ball land adjacent to the first ball lands. The semiconductor chip is mounted on the chip region. The first ball lands are arranged to have a first pitch. One of the first ball lands which is nearest to the second ball land, and the second ball land have a second pitch greater than the first pitch.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2009-112254, filed on Nov. 19, 2009, the contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

Example embodiments of the present general inventive concept relate to asemiconductor device, and more specifically, to a printed circuit boardhaving multi pitch ball lands and a semiconductor package having thesame.

2. Description of the Related Art

To meet demands for light, thin, short, small and highly integratedsemiconductor devices, package-on-package (POP) technology is beingvariously researched. Chips having various sizes have been developed,and shrunken versions thereof are being released in a short period oftime. In order to respond to such circumstances, the POP technologyfaces various limitations.

SUMMARY

Example embodiments of the present general inventive concept provide asemiconductor package to which chips having a plurality of sizes areapplicable.

Additional features and utilities of the present general inventiveconcept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and,in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned bypractice of the general inventive concept.

Example embodiments of the present general inventive concept may providea semiconductor device that includes a first printed circuit board and afirst semiconductor chip. The first printed circuit board can include achip region, a plurality of first ball lands adjacent to the chipregion, and at least one second ball land adjacent to the first balllands. The first semiconductor chip can be mounted on the chip region.The first ball lands can be arranged to have a first pitch. One of theplurality of first ball lands which is nearest to the second ball landand the second ball land can have a second pitch greater than the firstpitch.

The second pitch may be up to twice as great as the first pitch orsmaller.

The chip region may include first, second, third and fourth boundaries.The first boundary may be parallel to the third boundary, and the secondboundary may be parallel to the fourth boundary. The first ball landsmay be arranged parallel to the adjacent one of the first to fourthboundaries. The first ball lands may be arranged in a straight line, andthe second ball land may be arranged on an extension line of thestraight line. The second ball land may be arranged adjacent tointersections of the first to fourth boundaries.

An epoxy molding compound (EMC) covering the chip region and having atleast one protrusion may be provided. The protrusion may be formedbetween the second ball land and the first ball lands. The protrusionmay be arranged at the center between the second ball land and the firstball lands. A mold flash formed around the protrusion may be provided.

Example embodiments of the present general inventive concept may alsoprovide a second semiconductor chip provided on the first printedcircuit board. Conductive patterns may be formed between the secondsemiconductor chip and the first and second ball lands. The secondsemiconductor chip may be electrically connected to the first and secondball lands via the conductive patterns. A second printed circuit boardmay be provided between the second semiconductor chip and the conductivepatterns. The second printed circuit board may include other ball landscorresponding to the first and second ball lands. The conductivepatterns may be formed of one selected from the group consisting of asolder ball, a conductive bump, a conductive spacer and a combinationthereof.

Example embodiments of the present general inventive concept may alsoprovide a printed circuit board (PCB) that includes a chip region, aplurality of first ball lands adjacent to the chip region, and at leastone second ball land adjacent to the first ball lands. The first balllands may be arranged to have a first pitch, and one of the first balllands which is nearest to the second ball land, and the second ball landhave a second pitch. The second pitch may be twice as great as the firstpitch or smaller.

Example embodiments of the present general inventive concept alsoprovide an electronic system that includes a mainboard, an input/outputdevice formed on the mainboard, and at least one semiconductor packageformed on the mainboard and electrically connected to the input/outputdevice. The semiconductor package can include a printed circuit boardand a semiconductor chip. The printed circuit board has a first chipregion, a plurality of first ball lands adjacent to the chip region, andat least one second ball land adjacent to the first ball lands. Thesemiconductor chip can be mounted on the chip region. The first balllands are arranged to have a first pitch. One of the first ball landswhich is nearest to the second ball land and the second ball land have asecond pitch which is greater than the first pitch and is up to twice asgreat as the first pitch.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept alsoprovide a semiconductor package, including a first printed circuit boardincluding a chip region to mount a semiconductor chip defined by atleast a first boundary and a second boundary, a plurality of first balllands disposed outside the chip region, and at least one second ballland disposed adjacent to the intersection of the first boundary and thesecond boundary, where the plurality of first ball lands are arranged tohave a first pitch, and where the second ball land and one of theplurality of first ball lands which is nearest to the second ball landhave a second pitch that is greater than the first pitch.

The semiconductor package may include where the chip region is furtherdefined by a third boundary and a fourth boundary, with the first andthird boundaries parallel with one another, and the second and fourthboundaries parallel with one another.

The semiconductor package may include where the plurality of the firstball lands are arranged parallel to at least one of the first, second,third, and fourth boundaries outside the chip region.

The semiconductor package may include where at least another second ballland is disposed adjacent to at least one of the intersection of thesecond and third boundaries, the third and fourth boundaries, and thefirst and fourth boundaries.

The semiconductor package may include an epoxy molding compound (EMC)covering at least a portion of the chip region and having at least oneprotrusion, where the protrusion is formed between the second ball landand the first ball lands.

The semiconductor package may include where the protrusion is arrangedbetween the second ball land and the first ball lands.

The semiconductor package may include a mold flash formed around atleast a portion of the protrusion.

The semiconductor package may include a second chip region provided onthe first printed circuit board, and conductive patterns formed betweenthe second chip region and the first and second ball lands, where thesecond chip region is electrically connected to the first and secondball lands via the conductive patterns.

The semiconductor package may include a second printed circuit boardprovided between the second chip region and the conductive patterns,where the second printed circuit board includes other ball landscorresponding to the first and second ball lands.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept may alsoprovide an electronic system, including a mainboard, an interface formedon the mainboard to transmit and receive signals, and at least onesemiconductor package formed on the mainboard and electrically connectedto the interface, where the semiconductor package includes a firstprinted circuit board including a chip region to mount a semiconductorchip defined by at least a first boundary and a second boundary, aplurality of first ball lands disposed outside the chip region, and atleast one second ball land disposed adjacent to the intersection of thefirst boundary and the second boundary, where the plurality of firstball lands are arranged to have a first pitch, and where the second ballland and one of the plurality of first ball lands which is nearest tothe second ball land have a second pitch that is greater than the firstpitch.

The electronic system may include where the chip region is furtherdefined by a third boundary and a fourth boundary, with the first andthird boundaries parallel with one another, and the second and fourthboundaries parallel with one another.

The electronic system may include where the plurality of the first balllands are arranged parallel to at least one of the first, second, third,and fourth boundaries outside the chip region.

The electronic system may include where at least another second ballland is disposed adjacent to at least one of the intersection of thesecond and third boundaries, the third and fourth boundaries, and thefirst and fourth boundaries.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments of the present general inventive concept aredescribed in further detail below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. It should be understood that various features of the drawingsmay have been exaggerated for clarity. The above and/or other aspects ofthe present general inventive concept will become apparent and morereadily appreciated from the following description of the exemplaryembodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a plan view of a semiconductor device according toexample embodiments of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of a semiconductor device according toexample embodiments of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor deviceaccording to example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept;

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor deviceaccording to example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an electronic systemaccording to example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Various example embodiments will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings in which some example embodimentsare illustrated. This present general inventive concept may, however, beembodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited tothe embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are providedso that this disclosure is thorough and complete and fully conveys thescope of the present general inventive concept to one skilled in theart. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions may beexaggerated for clarity. Also, when it is referred that a layer is “on”another layer or a substrate, it may be directly formed on another layeror the substrate or a third layer may be interposed therebetween. Likereference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification.

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the likeelements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order toexplain the present general inventive concept by referring to thefigures.

FIG. 1 illustrates a plan view of a semiconductor device according toexample embodiments of the present general inventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 1, a semiconductor device according to the exampleembodiments of the present general inventive concept may include aprinted circuit board (PCB) 10, and a semiconductor chip 71 mounted onthe PCB 10.

The PCB 10 may be a flexible PCB, a rigid PCB, or a combination thereof.The PCB 10 may include a chip region 13, first ball lands 11, and secondball lands 12.

The chip region 13 may be provided on a surface of the PCB 10. The chipregion 13 may be defined by first, second, third and fourth boundaries(e.g., first boundary 14, second boundary 15, third boundary 16, andfourth boundary 17). The first boundary 14 and the third boundary 16 maybe parallel to each other, and the second boundary 15 and the fourthboundary 17 may be parallel to each other. The first and secondboundaries 14 and 15 may be perpendicular to each other, and the thirdand fourth boundaries 16 and 17 may be perpendicular to each other.

The first ball lands 11 may be arranged parallel to the adjacent one ofthe first boundary 14, second boundary 15, third boundary 16, and fourthboundary 17. For example, one or more of the first ball lands 11 may bearranged on a place adjacent to the first boundary 14 at predetermined(e.g., regular) intervals along two rows parallel to the first boundary14. Further, one or more of the first ball lands 11 may be arranged on aplace adjacent to the second boundary 15 along a column parallel to thesecond boundary 15 at predetermined (e.g., regular) intervals. The firstball lands 11 may be arranged to have a first pitch P1. The first pitchP1 may be determined by, for example, a predetermined design rule, chipsize (e.g., size of semiconductor chip 71), predetermined manufacturingtolerances, and any other suitable predetermined information to carryout the exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive conceptdisclosed herein. The first pitch P1 may be a standard pitch such as a0.4 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.65 mm, 0.8 mm or 1.0 mm, or may be any other suitablepitch so as to carry out the exemplary embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept disclosed herein. For example, the first pitchP1 may be 0.65 mm.

The second ball lands 12 may be arranged adjacent to intersections ofextension lines of the first to fourth boundaries 14, 15, 16 and 17.That is, the second ball lands 12 may be arranged adjacent to corners ofthe chip region 13. For example, one or more of the second ball lands 12may be arranged adjacent to an intersection of extension lines of thefirst boundary 14 and the second boundary 15. As illustrated in FIG. 1,one or more of the first ball lands 11 may be arranged in a straightline 19 parallel to the third boundary 16 of a place adjacent to thethird boundary 16 to have the first pitch P1. One or more of the secondball lands 12 may be disposed on an extension line of the straight line19. One of the first ball lands 11 which is nearest to the second balllands 12, and one of the second ball lands 12 which is nearest to thefirst ball lands 11 may be arranged to have a second pitch P2. Forexample, the second pitch P2 may be greater than the first pitch P1, andmay be up to twice as great as the first pitch P1. For example, thesecond pitch P2 may be 0.75 mm or any other suitable pitch in order tocarry out the exemplary embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept as disclosed herein.

The semiconductor chip 71 may be mounted on the chip region 13 of thePCB 10. The semiconductor chip 71 may include a volatile memory, anon-volatile memory, a logic device, a microprocessor, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable memory device, or afield programmable gate array (FPGA), or a combination thereof. The PCB10 may be a multilayer board such as, for example, a four-layered,six-layered or eight-layered board, or may have any other suitablenumber of layers to carry out the exemplary embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept, and may include internal interconnections(not illustrated) such as bond fingers (not illustrated). Thesemiconductor chip 71 may be electrically connected to the bond fingersthrough connection interconnections 75. The connection interconnections75 may be formed of an Au wire, an Al wire, a beam lead, a conductivetape, or a combination thereof, or may be any other connection to carryout the exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept.The first ball lands 11 and the second ball lands 12 may include a Culayer, a W layer, a WN layer, a Ti layer, a TiN layer, a Ta layer, a TaNlayer, a Au layer, an Al layer, a Ag layer, a Pt layer, a Pd layer, a Snlayer or a combination thereof. Accordingly, the semiconductor chip 71may be electrically connected to the first ball lands 11 and the secondball lands 12 through the connection interconnections 75 and theinternal interconnections.

According to example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept, a distance between the second ball lands 12 and the first balllands 11 can have the second pitch P2 be greater than the first pitchP1. That is, the distance between the second ball lands 12 and the firstball lands 11 may be adjustable such that the second pitch P2 is greaterthan the first pitch P1. To meet demands for a plurality of sizes of thesemiconductor chip 71, the size of the PCB 10 may be adjusted so as tobe equal to or greater than the sizes of the semiconductor chip 71. Forexample, a package corresponding to be greater than or equal to apredetermined size of the semiconductor chip 71 can be implementedaccording to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept.

An epoxy molding compound (EMC) 81 covering the chip region 13 andhaving at least one protrusion 82 may be provided. The EMC 81 may coverthe semiconductor chip 71 and the connection interconnections 75. TheEMC 81 may protect the semiconductor chip 71 and the connectioninterconnections 75 from physical and/or chemical damage. That is, theEMC 81 may minimize chemical and/or physical damage to the semiconductorchip 71 and the connection interconnections 75. The protrusion 82 may beformed along an air vent of a mold die. The protrusion 82 may be formedadjacent to the intersections of the first to fourth boundaries 14, 15,16 and 17. The protrusion 82 may be formed between the second ball lands12 and the first ball lands 11. Furthermore, the protrusion 82 may bearranged at a center of a distance between the second ball lands 12 andthe first ball lands 11. A mold flash 83 may be formed around theprotrusion 82. The mold flash 83 may be formed between the second balllands 12 and the first ball lands 11.

According to example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept, a distance between the second ball lands 12 and the first balllands 11 can have the second pitch P2 greater than the first pitch P1.That is, the distance between the second ball lands 12 and the firstball lands 11 is increased compared to a conventional art. Accordingly,an invasion failure of the mold flash 83 onto the first ball lands 11 orthe second ball lands 12 may be minimized.

FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of a semiconductor device according toexample embodiments of the present general inventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 2, a semiconductor device according to exampleembodiments may include a PCB 20 and a semiconductor chip 72 mounted onthe PCB 20. The differences from the example embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept illustrated in FIG. 1 will be described belowwith reference to FIG. 2.

The PCB 20 may include a chip region 23, first ball lands 11 and secondball lands 12. The chip region 23 may be provided on one surface of thePCB 20. The chip region 23 may be defined by first boundary 24, secondboundary 25, third boundary 26 and fourth boundary 27.

The first ball lands 11 may be arranged parallel to the adjacent one ofthe first to fourth boundaries 24, 25, 26 and 27. For example, at leastone of the first ball lands 11 may be arranged on a place adjacent tothe first boundary 24 along two rows parallel to the first boundary 24at predetermined (e.g., regular) intervals. At least one of the firstball lands 11 may be arranged on a place adjacent to the second boundary25 along two columns parallel to the second boundary 25 at predetermined(e.g., regular) intervals. The first ball lands 11 may be arranged tohave a first pitch P1.

The second ball lands 12 may be arranged at intersections of extensionlines of the first to fourth boundaries 24, 25, 26 and 27. That is, thesecond ball lands 12 may be arranged adjacent to corners of the chipregion 23. One of the first ball lands 11 which is nearest to the secondball lands 12, and one of the second ball lands 12 which is nearest tothe first ball lands 11 may be arranged to have a second pitch P2. Forexample, the second pitch P2 may be greater than the first pitch P1, andmay be up to twice as great as the first pitch P1.

An EMC 81 covering the chip region 13 and having at least one protrusion82 may be provided. The protrusion 82 may be formed along an air vent ofa mold die. The protrusion 82 may be formed adjacent to theintersections of the first to fourth boundaries 24, 25, 26 and 27. Theprotrusion 82 may be formed between the second ball lands 12 and thefirst ball lands 11. The protrusion 82 may be arranged at a centerbetween the second ball lands 12 and the first ball lands 11. A moldflash 83 may be formed around the protrusion 82. The mold flash 83 maybe formed between the second ball lands 12 and the first ball lands 11.

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor deviceaccording to example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept.

Referring to FIG. 3, a semiconductor device according to the exampleembodiments of the present general inventive concept may include a firstPCB 30 and a second PCB 40. A first semiconductor chip 71 and a secondsemiconductor chip 73 may be mounted on the first PCB 30, and a thirdsemiconductor chip 74 may be mounted on the second PCB 40. Conductivepatterns 33 may be provided between the first PCB 30 and the second PCB40. The conductive patterns 33 may be formed of one selected from thegroup consisting of a solder ball, a conductive bump, a conductivespacer and a combination thereof. The conductive bump may be a gold bumpor a solder bump, or any other suitable bump to carry out the exemplaryembodiments of the present general inventive concept as disclosedherein.

One surface of the first PCB 30 may include first ball lands 11, andsecond ball lands (not illustrated), which are similar to and/or thesame as those described with reference to PCB 10 of FIG. 1 and PCB 20 ofFIG. 2, and a chip region 23. The first semiconductor chip 71 may bemounted on the chip region 23 of the first PCB 30 using an adhesive 77.The first semiconductor chip 71 may be similar to and/or the same as thesemiconductor chip 71 of FIG. 1 or the semiconductor chip 72 of FIG. 2.While the first semiconductor chip 71 may include a plurality of passiveand/or active devices such as bonding pads, interconnections and/ortransistors, the descriptions thereof will be omitted for simplicity.

The first semiconductor chip 71 may be electrically connected tointernal interconnections (not illustrated) of the first PCB 30 throughthe connection interconnections 75. The connection interconnections 75may be formed of an Au wire, an Al wire, a beam lead, a conductive tape,or a combination thereof to carry out the exemplary embodiments of thepresent general inventive concept as disclosed herein. The first balllands 11 and the second ball lands (e.g., second ball lands 12, asillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2) may include a Cu layer, a W layer, a WNlayer, a Ti layer, a TiN layer, a Ta layer, a TaN layer, an Au layer, anAl layer, an Ag layer, a Pt layer, a Pd layer, a Sn layer, or acombination thereof to carry out the exemplary embodiments of thepresent general inventive concept as disclosed herein. Accordingly, thesemiconductor chip 71 may be electrically connected to the first balllands 11 and the second ball lands (e.g., second ball lands 12, asillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2) through the connection interconnections 75and the internal interconnections.

An EMC 81 covering at least a portion of the first semiconductor chip 71and the connection interconnections 75 may be provided. The EMC 81 mayprotect the semiconductor chip 71 and the connection interconnections 75from chemical and/or physical damage. That is, the EMC 81 may minimizechemical and/or physical damage to the semiconductor chip 71 and theconnection interconnections 75.

The second semiconductor chip 73 may be mounted on the other surface ofthe first PCB 30. For example, the second semiconductor chip 73 may bemounted using a flip-chip technique. The second semiconductor chip 73may be attached to the first PCB 30 using a solder ball 78. The secondsemiconductor chip 73 may be attached to the first PCB 30 using aconductive bump. The conductive bump may be a gold bump or a solderbump. While a protection layer such as an under fill (not illustrated)may be formed between the second semiconductor chip 73 and the first PCB30, the description thereof will be omitted for simplicity.

External terminals 35 may be formed on the first PCB 30. The externalterminals 35 may be formed adjacent to the second semiconductor chip 73.The external terminals 35 may be formed of one selected from the groupconsisting of a solder ball, a conductive bump, a conductive spacer, anda combination thereof. The conductive bump may be a gold bump, or asolder bump, or any suitable conductive bump to carry out the exemplaryembodiments of the present general inventive concept disclosed herein.The second semiconductor chip 73 may be electrically connected to theexternal terminals 35 via the solder ball 78 and the internalinterconnections (not illustrated). The first semiconductor chip 71 maybe electrically connected to the external terminals 35 via theconnection interconnections 75, the internal interconnections, the firstball lands 11 and the second ball lands (e.g., the second ball lands 12as illustrated in FIGS. 1-2).

One surface of the second PCB 40 may include first ball lands 11 andsecond ball lands (e.g., the second ball lands 12 as illustrated inFIGS. 1-2), which are similar to those described with reference to PCB10 of FIG. 1 and PCB 20 of FIG. 2. The third semiconductor chip 74 maybe mounted on the other surface of the second PCB 40. The thirdsemiconductor chip 74 may be electrically connected to the first balllands 11 and the second ball lands of the second PCB 40 through theconnection interconnections 75 and the internal interconnections (notillustrated). An EMC 86 at least partially covering the thirdsemiconductor chip 74 and the connection interconnections 75 may beprovided.

Conductive patterns 33 may be provided between the first PCB 30 and thesecond PCB 40. The conductive patterns 33 may electrically connect thefirst PCB 30 to the second PCB 40. The conductive patterns 33 may be incontact with the first ball lands 11 and the second ball lands (e.g.,the second ball lands 12 as illustrated in FIGS. 1-2) of the second PCB40. That is, the conductive patterns 33 may be in contact with the firstball lands 11 and the second ball lands 12 directly and physically.

The first PCB 30, the first semiconductor chip 71, and the secondsemiconductor chip 73 may be a lower package. The second PCB 40 and thethird semiconductor chip 74 may be an upper package. The conductivepatterns 33 may electrically connect the lower package to the upperpackage. That is, the third semiconductor chip 74 may be electricallyconnected to the external terminals 35 via the connectioninterconnections 75, the internal interconnections, the first ball lands11, the second ball lands (e.g., the second ball lands 12 illustrated inFIGS. 1-2) and the conductive patterns 33. The semiconductor deviceaccording to the example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept may be identified as a package-on-package (POP) type ofsemiconductor package.

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor deviceaccording to example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept.

Referring to FIG. 4, a semiconductor device according to exampleembodiments of the present general inventive concept may include a firstPCB 50, and a second PCB 60. A first semiconductor chip 76 may bemounted on the first PCB 50, and a second semiconductor chip 74 may bemounted on the second PCB 60. The second semiconductor chip 74 may besimilar to the semiconductor chip 74 of FIG. 3. Conductive patterns 33may be provided between the first PCB 50 and the second PCB 60. Theconductive patterns 33 may be one selected from the group consisting ofa solder ball, a conductive bump, a conductive spacer and a combinationthereof. The conductive bump may be a gold bump, or a solder bump, orany suitable conductive bump to carry out the exemplary embodiments ofthe present general inventive concept disclosed herein.

One surface of the first PCB 50 may include first ball lands 11, andsecond ball lands (e.g., second ball lands 12 as illustrated in FIGS.1-2), which are similar to those described with reference to PCB 10 ofFIG. 1 and PCB 20 of FIG. 2, and a chip region 23. The firstsemiconductor chip 76 may be mounted on the chip region 23 of the firstPCB 50 using a flip-chip technique. The first semiconductor chip 76 maybe attached to the first PCB 50 using a solder ball 78. Likewise, thefirst semiconductor chip 76 may be attached to the first PCB 50 using aconductive bump. The conductive bump may be a gold bump or a solderbump, or any suitable conductive bump to carry out the exemplaryembodiments of the present general inventive concept disclosed herein.While a protection layer such as an under fill (not illustrated) may beformed between the first semiconductor chip 76 and the first PCB 50, thedescription thereof will be omitted for simplicity. While the firstsemiconductor chip 76 may include a plurality of passive and/or activedevices such as bonding pads, interconnections, and/or transistors, thedescriptions thereof will be omitted for simplicity.

The first semiconductor chip 76 may be electrically connected tointernal interconnections (not illustrated) of the first PCB 50 throughthe solder ball 78. The first semiconductor chip 76 may be electricallyconnected to the first ball lands 11 and the second ball lands (e.g.,the second ball lands 12 illustrated in FIGS. 1-2) through the internalinterconnections.

External terminals 55 may be formed on the other surface of the firstPCB 50. The external terminals 55 may be formed of one selected from thegroup consisting of a solder ball, a conductive bump, a conductivespacer, and a combination thereof. The conductive bump may be a goldbump or a solder bump, or any suitable conductive bump to carry out theexemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept disclosedherein. The first semiconductor chip 76 may be electrically connected tothe external terminals 55 via the solder ball 78 and the internalinterconnections (not illustrated).

One surface of the second PCB 60 may include first ball lands 11, andsecond ball lands (not illustrated), which are the same as and/orsimilar to those described with reference to PCB 10 of FIG. 1 and PCB 20of FIG. 2. The second semiconductor chip 74 may be mounted on the othersurface of the second PCB 60. The second semiconductor chip 74 may beelectrically connected to the first ball lands 11 and the second balllands of the second PCB 60 through connection interconnections 75 andinternal interconnections (not illustrated). An EMC 86 at leastpartially covering the second semiconductor chip 74 and the connectioninterconnections 75 may be provided.

Conductive patterns 33 may be provided between the first PCB 50 and thesecond PCB 60. The conductive patterns 33 may electrically connect thefirst PCB 50 to the second PCB 60. The conductive patterns 33 may be incontact with the first PCB 50 and the first ball lands 11 and the secondball lands (e.g., the second ball lands 12 illustrated in FIGS. 1-2) ofthe second PCB 60 directly and physically. The first PCB 50 and thefirst semiconductor chip 76 may be at least part of a lower package. Thesecond PCB 60 and the second semiconductor chip 74 may be at least partof an upper package. The conductive patterns 33 may electrically connectthe lower package to the upper package. That is, the secondsemiconductor chip 74 may be electrically connected to the externalterminals 55 via the connection interconnections 75, the internalinterconnections, the first ball lands 11, the second ball lands (e.g.,the second ball lands 12 illustrated in FIGS. 1-2), and the conductivepatterns 33. The semiconductor device according to the exampleembodiments illustrated in FIG. 4 may be identified as a POP type ofsemiconductor package.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic system according toexample embodiments of the present general inventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 5, an electronic system 800 may include a memory 820,and a microprocessor 810 electrically connected to the memory 820. Here,the memory 820 and/or the microprocessor 810 may be a semiconductordevice described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. Microprocessor 810 maybe any suitable processor, programmable logic device (PLD), applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array(FPGA), and/or controller to carry out the exemplary embodiments of thepresent general inventive concept disclosed herein.

The electronic system 800 may correspond to a part of a laptop computer,a digital camera, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digitalassistant, and/or a tablet computer. The microprocessor 810 and thememory 820 may be installed on a mainboard, and the memory 820 may be adata storage media that may be controller by the microprocessor 810. Theplurality of memories 820 and/or the plurality of microprocessors 810may be mounted on the mainboard of the electronic system 800.

The electronic system 800 may exchange data with other electronicsystems such as personal computers and/or computer networks through aninput/output device 830. The input/output device 830 may provide data toa peripheral bus line of a computer, a high-speed transmission line or awireless transmission/reception antenna. The data communications betweenthe microprocessor 810 and the input/output device 830 in addition tothose between the microprocessor 810 and the memory 820 may beaccomplished using bus architectures 840. The input/output device 830may be communicatively coupled to a wired and/or wireless communicationnetwork, and one or more electronic devices may be communicativelycoupled to the communication network. That is, the input/output device830 may exchange data with one or more electronic systems via the wiredand/or wireless communication network.

In example embodiments of the present general inventive concept, theelectronic system 800 may be implemented as a semiconductor package asillustrated in FIG. 3 or 4. For example, at least one f the first tothird semiconductor chips 71, 73 and 74 of FIG. 3 may correspond to thememory 820, and at least one of the other first to third semiconductorchips 71, 73 and 74 may correspond to the microprocessor 810 and/or theinput/output device 830.

Example embodiments may be applied to one or more devices such as apackage module, a card system, and/or a solid state disk (SSD).

According to example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept, a plurality of first ball lands (e.g., first ball lands 11illustrated in FIGS. 1-2) having a first pitch (e.g., first pitch P1)are provided. The first pitch may be a standard pitch. Also, at leastone second ball land (e.g., second ball lands 12 illustrated in FIGS.1-2) adjacent to the first ball lands is provided. One of the first balllands which is nearest to the second ball land, and the second ball landhave a second pitch (e.g., second pitch P2). The second pitch may begreater than the first pitch, and may be up to twice as great as thefirst pitch. Accordingly, a distance between the second ball land andthe first ball lands has an alterable margin. That is, the size of aprinted circuit board may be adjustable in response to the plurality ofsizes of semiconductor chips. A reduce package size having similarperformance to a reduced sized version of the semiconductor chip butwith a smaller size can be easily implemented.

A distance between the second ball land and the first ball lands can beincreased compared to the conventional art. An invasion failure of amold flash onto the first ball lands or the second ball land may bemitigated and/or minimized.

While example embodiments have been disclosed herein, it should beunderstood that other variations may be possible. Such variations arenot to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of exampleembodiments of the present application, and all such modifications aswould be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be includedwithin the scope of the following claims.

1. A semiconductor device, comprising: a first printed circuit boardincluding a chip region, a plurality of first ball lands adjacent to thechip region, and at least one second ball land adjacent to the firstball lands; and a first semiconductor chip mounted on the chip region,wherein the plurality of first ball lands are arranged to have a firstpitch, and one of the plurality of first ball lands which is nearest tothe second ball land and the second ball land have a second pitchgreater than the first pitch.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein thesecond pitch is up to twice as great as the first pitch.
 3. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the chip region includes first, second, third, andfourth boundaries, wherein the first boundary is parallel to the thirdboundary, the second boundary is parallel to the fourth boundary, andthe plurality of first ball lands are arranged parallel to the adjacentone of the first to fourth boundaries.
 4. The device of claim 3, whereinthe first ball lands are arranged in a straight line, and the secondball land is arranged on an extension line of the straight line.
 5. Thedevice of claim 3, wherein the second ball land is arranged adjacent tointersections of the first to fourth boundaries.
 6. The device of claim1, further comprising: an epoxy molding compound (EMC) covering the chipregion and having at least one protrusion, wherein the protrusion isformed between the second ball land and the first ball lands.
 7. Thedevice of claim 6, wherein the protrusion is arranged at the centerbetween the second ball land and the first ball lands.
 8. The device ofclaim 7, further comprising: a mold flash formed around the protrusion.9. The device of claim 1, further comprising: a second semiconductorchip provided on the first printed circuit board; and conductivepatterns formed between the second semiconductor chip and the first andsecond ball lands, wherein the second semiconductor chip is electricallyconnected to the first and second ball lands via the conductivepatterns.
 10. The device of claim 9, further comprising: a secondprinted circuit board provided between the second semiconductor chip andthe conductive patterns, wherein the second printed circuit boardincludes other ball lands corresponding to the first and second balllands.
 11. The device of claim 9, wherein the conductive patterns areformed of one selected from the group consisting of a solder ball, aconductive bump, a conductive spacer and a combination thereof.
 12. Aprinted circuit board (PCB), comprising: a chip region; a plurality offirst ball lands adjacent to the chip region; and at least one secondball land adjacent to the first ball lands, wherein the plurality offirst ball lands are arranged to have a first pitch, and one of theplurality of first ball lands which is nearest to the second ball landand the second ball land have a second pitch greater than the firstpitch, which is up to twice as great as the first pitch.
 13. The PCB ofclaim 12, wherein the chip region includes first, second, third andfourth boundaries, wherein the first boundary is parallel to the thirdboundary, the second boundary is parallel to the fourth boundary, andthe first ball lands are arranged parallel to the adjacent one of thefirst to fourth boundaries.
 14. The PCB of claim 13, wherein the firstball lands are arranged in a straight line, and the second ball land isarranged on an extension line of the straight line.
 15. The PCB of claim13, wherein the second ball land is arranged adjacent to intersectionsof the first to fourth boundaries.
 16. An electronic system, comprising:a mainboard; an input/output device formed on the mainboard; and atleast one semiconductor package formed on the mainboard and electricallyconnected to the input/output device, wherein the semiconductor packagecomprises: a printed circuit board having a first chip region, aplurality of first ball lands adjacent to the chip region, and at leastone second ball land adjacent to the first ball lands; and a firstsemiconductor chip mounted on the first chip region, wherein theplurality of first ball lands are arranged to have a first pitch, andone of the first ball lands which is nearest to the second ball land,and the second ball land have a second pitch which is greater than thefirst pitch and up to twice as great as the first pitch or smaller. 17.The system of claim 16, wherein the chip region has first, second, thirdand fourth boundaries, wherein the first and third boundaries areparallel to each other, the second and fourth boundaries are parallel toeach other, and the first ball lands are arranged parallel to theadjacent one of the first to fourth boundaries.
 18. The system of claim17, wherein the first ball lands are arranged in a straight line, andthe second ball land is arranged on an extension line of the straightline.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein the second ball land isarranged adjacent to intersections of the first to fourth boundaries.20. The system of claim 16, further comprising: a second semiconductorchip provided on the printed circuit board; and conductive patternsformed between the second semiconductor chip and the first and secondball lands, wherein the second semiconductor chip is electricallyconnected to the first and second ball lands via the conductivepatterns.
 21. A semiconductor package, comprising: a first printedcircuit board including a chip region to mount a semiconductor chipdefined by at least a first boundary and a second boundary, a pluralityof first ball lands disposed outside the chip region, and at least onesecond ball land disposed adjacent to the intersection of the firstboundary and the second boundary, wherein the plurality of first balllands are arranged to have a first pitch, and wherein the second ballland and one of the plurality of first ball lands which is nearest tothe second ball land have a second pitch that is greater than the firstpitch.
 22. The semiconductor package of claim 21, wherein the chipregion is further defined by a third boundary and a fourth boundary,with the first and third boundaries parallel with one another, and thesecond and fourth boundaries parallel with one another.
 23. Thesemiconductor package of claim 22, wherein the plurality of the firstball lands are arranged parallel to at least one of the first, second,third, and fourth boundaries outside the chip region.
 24. Thesemiconductor package of claim 22, wherein at least another second ballland is disposed adjacent to at least one of the intersection of thesecond and third boundaries, the third and fourth boundaries, and thefirst and fourth boundaries.
 25. The semiconductor package of claim 21,further comprising: an epoxy molding compound (EMC) covering at least aportion of the chip region and having at least one protrusion, whereinthe protrusion is formed between the second ball land and the first balllands.
 26. The semiconductor package of claim 25, wherein the protrusionis arranged between the second ball land and the first ball lands. 27.The semiconductor package of claim 26, further comprising: a mold flashformed around at least a portion of the protrusion.
 28. Thesemiconductor package of claim 21, further comprising: a second chipregion provided on the first printed circuit board; and conductivepatterns formed between the second chip region and the first and secondball lands, wherein the second chip region is electrically connected tothe first and second ball lands via the conductive patterns.
 29. Thesemiconductor package of claim 28, further comprising: a second printedcircuit board provided between the second chip region and the conductivepatterns, wherein the second printed circuit board includes other balllands corresponding to the first and second ball lands.
 30. Anelectronic system, comprising: a mainboard; an interface formed on themainboard to transmit and receive signals; and at least onesemiconductor package formed on the mainboard and electrically connectedto the interface, wherein the semiconductor package comprises: a firstprinted circuit board including a chip region to mount a semiconductorchip defined by at least a first boundary and a second boundary, aplurality of first ball lands disposed outside the chip region, and atleast one second ball land disposed adjacent to the intersection of thefirst boundary and the second boundary, wherein the plurality of firstball lands are arranged to have a first pitch, and wherein the secondball land and one of the plurality of first ball lands which is nearestto the second ball land have a second pitch that is greater than thefirst pitch.
 31. The electronic system of claim 30, wherein the chipregion is further defined by a third boundary and a fourth boundary,with the first and third boundaries parallel with one another, and thesecond and fourth boundaries parallel with one another.
 32. Theelectronic system of claim 31, wherein the plurality of the first balllands are arranged parallel to at least one of the first, second, third,and fourth boundaries outside the chip region.
 33. The electronic systemof claim 31, wherein at least another second ball land is disposedadjacent to at least one of the intersection of the second and thirdboundaries, the third and fourth boundaries, and the first and fourthboundaries.